…and the ETA for the next round of protests is the third week of October. Back in the note “Ecuador: The problem with the current agreement with indigenous locals” dated late July (first IKN Weekly IKN688, later here on the blog on that link) we carried excerpts from an interview given by ex-Mining Minister Fernando Benalcazar who said that the likelihood of the government and protesting indigenous locals coming to an agreement was slight and that among other things, “It wouldn’t be a surprise to see another protest and strike action a month after the 90 day period is over.”
Cut to this week and the wider world is beginning to see the same thing. This Reuters note dated yesterday runs an English language summary of the growing realization that once the 90 day brokered negotiation period ends, more trouble is in the cards. Here’s an excerpt:
“The government is weak and President Lasso is very proud, he won’t cede even by accident to indigenous demands, and Mr. Iza also has a triumphal position where he wants all or nothing,” former energy minister Fernando Santos told Reuters, referring to indigenous leader Leonidas Iza.
“I see difficult days and no will to make agreements,” Santos said, adding oil and mining could stagnate.
Plenty more on that link, too. Unless surprising progress is made beforehand, we’re now around five weeks away from the re-start of protests against mining companies in Ecuador. Mark your cards.